SponsorBlock for Safari (macOS)

Free macOS Safari builds of SponsorBlock, automatically generated from the official upstream Safari extension release.

Important

This is an unofficial, community-maintained distribution. It is not affiliated with the SponsorBlock project or Apple. For the signed and notarized version, including iOS support, use the official Mac App Store app.

Download and install

1. Download SponsorBlock-Safari.app.zip from the latest release.
2. Unzip it and move SponsorBlock.app to /Applications.
3. Open SponsorBlock.app once. If macOS blocks it, Control-click the app, choose Open, then confirm.
4. In Safari, open Settings > Advanced and enable Show features for web developers.
5. Open Settings > Developer and enable Allow unsigned extensions.
6. Open Settings > Extensions and enable SponsorBlock.

Note

The downloaded release is unsigned. Safari resets Allow unsigned extensions whenever it restarts. Use the optional local-signing instructions below to avoid that step.

Optional: sign the downloaded app with a free Apple ID

You can locally sign the downloaded app with a free Apple ID and an Apple Development certificate. Safari then recognizes it as signed, so you should not need to re-enable Allow unsigned extensions after each restart.

This signature is for your local installation only. Do not redistribute the resulting app.

Create a certificate

1. Install Xcode and open it.

2. Go to Xcode > Settings > Accounts and add your Apple ID.

3. Select the account, choose Manage Certificates..., press +, then create an Apple Development certificate.

4. In Terminal, find the certificate identity:

   security find-identity -v -p codesigning

   Copy the text in quotation marks, such as Apple Development: name@example.com (TEAMID).

Sign the app

Move the downloaded app to /Applications, replace IDENTITY below with your certificate identity, then run the commands in Terminal:

IDENTITY="Apple Development: name@example.com (TEAMID)"
APP="/Applications/SponsorBlock.app"
EXTENSION="$APP/Contents/PlugIns/SponsorBlock Extension.appex"

cat > /tmp/sponsorblock-app.entitlements <<'EOF'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.network.client</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>
EOF

cat > /tmp/sponsorblock-extension.entitlements <<'EOF'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>
EOF

xattr -cr "$APP"

codesign --force --timestamp=none \
  --sign "$IDENTITY" \
  --entitlements /tmp/sponsorblock-extension.entitlements \
  "$EXTENSION"

codesign --force --timestamp=none \
  --sign "$IDENTITY" \
  --entitlements /tmp/sponsorblock-app.entitlements \
  "$APP"

codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=2 "$APP"
open "$APP"

Enable SponsorBlock once in Safari > Settings > Extensions. Repeat the signing steps after installing a new release.

Updates

New builds are published automatically after an upstream SponsorBlock release. To update, download the latest ZIP, replace the existing app in /Applications, and repeat the local-signing steps if you use them.

How this repository works

The GitHub Actions workflow:

1. Checks for the latest upstream SponsorBlock release.
2. Downloads its SafariExtension.zip asset.
3. Generates a fresh macOS-only Safari extension project with safari-web-extension-packager.
4. Builds and publishes SponsorBlock-Safari.app.zip.

The committed Xcode project is upstream glue code and references generated extension assets that are not kept in this repository. It is not the supported way to create a release build; use the workflow or the official SponsorBlock project for development.

License

This repository is licensed under GPL-3.0. See LICENSE-APPSTORE.txt for the App Store distribution exception provided by the SponsorBlock copyright holders.